umbrella. stay away from the windows. we also have, if it weren't enough, a flash flood watch covering the entire metro area until 4:00 tomorrow. storms may also contain some strong winds as well as heavy downpours. go to our website, wus a9.com. hail size, think coins, and rain fall amount, you did a great job a few fridays ago when we had severe weather, lesli and anita, back to you. today's hot temperatures took a toll on dozens of u.s. naval academy mid shipmen. during the color parade, 50 mid shipmen suffered heat related symptoms. new estimates now puts the gulf oil spill as the worst in united states history. while crews continue to cap the leak with mud and cement. president obama insists his administration responded aggressively from the smart. katherine brown joins us from venice, louisiana, where it has been over 27 hours from the

start of top kill. katherine. >> reporter: that's right, anita. ahead of his trip, president obama is insisting while bp is responsible for the oil leak, the federal government is solely in charge of containing it. > engineers are optimistic their top kill solution will put a lid on the worst oil spill in u.s. history. bp says the risky procedure, a mile under water seems to be working. president obama said stopping the leak and containing the catastrophe has always been his top priority. >> the american people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort. >> ahead of his second trip to the region since the rig explosion, the president announced tougher offshore drilling safety standards and a freeze on new deep water drilling permits. >> the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship with government regulators meant little or no regulation at all. >> government teams now

estimate this spill is bigger than exxon. scientists calculate anywhere from 19 to 39 million gallons already spewed into the gulf at a rate double the previous estimate. thick, brown oil is washing up along 100 miles of louisiana's coastline. >> we certainly have been frustrated by the response to this spill. we said there's been often too little, too late. we started taking matters into our own hands. >> i am angry and frustrated as well. >> president obama is promising to do everything necessary to protect and restore the gulf coast. while demanding bp pay every dime for the damage. and the coast guard spoke a few moments ago. the top kill does seem to be working and no more oil is seeping into the gulf, but they reiterated there is a long way to go before anyone is ready to declare this a success. >> at least they are talking

about making progress. thanks for that report. dogs are mysteriously dying in fairfax county and police are looking for what appears to be a serial pet killer. two dogs were found dead in centerville. another was targeted, but survived. lindsay joins us from the neighborhood where this is happening. are these pets being killed by poisoned meat? >> that's exactly what police say. they say it happened around 5:00. the dogs ate poison meat and it happened at three different homes that are all within 1,000 feet of each other. police are trying to spread the word, because it could happen again. >> why would they do this? why would they harm a puppy like that? >> annie, a 5 month old was found dead yesterday after police say she ate a poison meat ball. >> we have three homes in close proximity that had the meat balls deposited in their yards. >> annie and the others ate the meat balls around 5:00 yesterday. >> they had seizures or just

lying there. had some blood coming from the mouth. >> i went downstairs and found the puppy dead in my mom's room. >> annie's owner didn't want to show his face on camera and could barely talk about what happened. >> my brother found these poison meat balls in the backyard. >> veterinarians at the animal hospital tried to save one of the animals. >> the dog was not able to fully recover, so unfortunately, we had to euthanize the dog. >> the hospital is sending out e-mails, warning others about the poison meat balls and police are canvassing the neighborhood. >> i am floored by the whole thing. >> peggy anderson is worried about her dog, and immediately checked her backyard. lucas says she'll be keeping her dogs indoors. >> why would i try to take them outside? what's the matter with these folks? >> no one complained about any of the dogs and they are worried that the poison meat

balls could also harm humans. >> kids pick up and put in their mouths just about anything, especially small ones. >> the dogs are undergoing an autopsy-like procedure and police are waiting to figure out exactly what type of poison was used. for right now, they just want dog owners and people with small children to be on the lookout. lesli. >> it's hard to comprehend. do police have any leads on who they think is responsible? >> police don't have any leads yet, but this was a malicious act. it was premeditated and that whoever did this could face felony charges. reporting live in centerville. i'm lindsey mastas. police are investigate a fatal accident in bethesda. the driver of a car lost control on a ramp and crashed into a pole at old georgetown road. the driver of the vehicle was killed. there were no passengers. we have some important metro information that is just coming into the newsroom.

minutes ago, metro's board unanimously ordered its staff to move ahead with the largest fare increase in metro's history. if approved. peek rail boarding charge would increase from $1.65 to $1.90. this is going to happen. the maximum rail fare would jump from $4.50 to $5. the proposal also increases a rush hour surcharge. as for metro bus riders, the base boarding charge would jump from $1.25 to $1.50, and the weekly bus pass would increase $4. right now, metro and am track passengers are seeing a big show of force at union station. metro transit police are being joined by authorities for a counterterrorism drill. patrols were beefed up from new hampshire to virginia. it includes bomb sniffing dogs and increase random bag checks. the exercise was not in response to any particular threat. the trial of a murdered dc

attorney has gone hollywood. today, prosecutors in the ron juan case brought in a forensic expert. the defense tried vigorously to keep that expert off the witness stand. audrey. >> that's right, lesli, because douglas' testimony goes to the heart of the prosecution's case, that these three defendants tampered with evidence, that four years later, still hasn't been solved. >> forensic expert returned to dc superior court this afternoon prepared to finally give testimony in the robert juan case. court watchers have been blogging about the unsolved murder for the last 18 months, say prosecutors illicitted key evidence in the tampering and obstruction case about blood found on a knife on the bedside table in the guest room where robert juan was stabbed to death. >> i think what the prosecution's contention is, the way the blood got on the knife is not from robert's chest wounds or the wounds from

his abdomen, it was smeared on the knife from one of defendants. >> dedrick, and about 6,000 others also ran tests on the bloody, william and mary t- shirt the victim was wearing. >> it might be enough for the prosecution to hang its head on. it could be. i'm sure the defense is going to go after it hammer and tong. >> sean wu, who has been working to blog daily about the case, says his testimony turned the day around for prosecutors, who received several tongue lashings from the judge over preparations. >> i think it's been fair, but tough. >> no long weekend for the lawyers on both sides involved in this trial. court will be in session tomorrow. lesli. >> audrey, when is the defense expected to take over? >> lesli, because of the memorial day holiday on monday, we don't expect the defense to get a chance to take over well before late next week. back to you. >> audrey barnes, thank you.

a popular fairfax county teacher is found not guilty of molesting one of his 12-year- old students. the jury needed ten minutes before acquitting sean lanigan. he was the physical ed teacher in centerville. his main accuser admitted to having a grudge against him. more than two years after eastern market nearly burned to the ground, we have an update on what investigators say caused that fire. dc fire chief says an electrical malfunction sparked the blaze on 7th street southeast. according to the final report, an electrical fire started all of this. sky 9 was over the scene of a fire in gaithersburg. the flames caused heavy damage to the house. residents of the homemade it out okay after calling 911. the cause is being investigated. >> a tight squeeze in maryland today where an 18 wheeler

hauling some whisky got stuck under a bridge. this happened on route 75 near new market. the railroad overpass is a tough spot for big rigs and police say the truck lost some of its load. hot lane construction continues in virginia. the department of transportation there shifted the westbound lanes of the new braddock bridge over i-495. work is underway at 12 interchanges inside the hot zone on the beltway. when it comes to rules of road knowledge, drivers in the district of columbia are the third worst in the nation. that's according to a new study. now it comes to this conclusion by examining questions pulled by department of motor vehicle exams. maryland drivers placed 20th in the survey, while virginiaens were 28th. >> well, we know somebody who ranked number one when it comes to filling us in on the evening rush. dave calhoun is in the traffic center. >> number one, i won't claim that. it's a mess out there this afternoon, but we are going to get you through it. as you heard earlier, the

georgetown road is closed for police investigation. delays on the outer loop stretch from i-95 on and off all the way around the road in virginia. inner loop, not much better. delays from route 7 around to pass central avenue. looking at the graphics now. northbound, baltimore, washington parkway, you are jammed up to and beyond route 32. southbound delays stretch from route 32 to powder mill road, where we had an earlier accident. moving into virginia, southbound i-95, several spots of delays from the beltway to newington, from wood bridge, and again from dale city to and beyond tri yang l, triangle. back to you. we arrested the wrong guy, the story of mistaken identity is coming up. plus, the controversy over this toddler who smokes two packs a day and his parents

know all about it. >> plus, topper is tracking the potential of severe storms. they are headed our way tonight. we'll be back with all of that.

we have breaking news in montgomery county, where police are trying to figure out if a man was pushed from a parking garage. >> andrea joins us live from the scene with the latest. andrea, what do you know? >> reporter: lesli, this is a bizarre story. i have to tell you. take a look behind me. that is a four story metro parking garage. around 2:00 today, a 911 call came in, a passer by saw a man on the ground. by the time police and fire and rescue personnel arrived at the scene, he was in a seated position in the grass below the

parking garage. what he told rescuers was that three people forced him to the very top deck of that metro parking garage and then forced him to jump off. remarkably, when fire and rescue personnel arrived, they said they found no obvious broken bones. the victim allegedly complained of abdomen pain, chest pain, and was then taken to suburban hospital's trauma unit. what is also remarkable is he was conscious, he was alert, he was oriented, and again, no other obvious injuries. they have no reason to believe at this point that he was not telling the truth. they do believe he came down from that fourth story parking garage, a distance of 50 feet. he is now in stable condition, we're told, at suburban hospital. one thing that is unusual is two days ago, the same location, there was another incident here. apparently an assault.

we don't know yet at this hour whether those two incidents are related. we'll have more news as it becomes available. for now, reporting live from wheaten, andrea mckaren, 9news now. >> thank you. talk about a steamy day, wow. >> you know, 91 unofficially and a record high is 95. >> it felt warmer than that. >> humidity was. the heat index was 95. it is thursday. we have nothing immediately threatening the metro area. we are going to show you our best shot. this is a great picture from a national weather service headquarters employee. took it a couple years ago, and if you notice it cranes over the bridge, you know how old the picture is. you capture lightning strikes. and, it is just a spectacular picture, and douglas, you did everything exactly right. and remember, lightning, five times hotter than the surface of the sun. okay. remember, go to our website, wusa9.com. click on weather, and just

follow the drop down menu. you'll see how to submit your best shot. you have to include your name and hometown. i'll kick it out. okay, we'll go the next three days. tomorrow, the clouds will hang tough. 75. maybe a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm in the morning. but i want to emphasize the threat of severe weather is over after tonight. yup, clouds hang tough on saturday. 74. maybe a shower on sunday. 84, but not a bad day. the weekend looks okay. not exactly chamber of commerce, but okay. covers the entire metro area and the threat may linger a little past 9:00. satellite picture and radar combined, we'll zoom in. we'll find tremendous thunderstorms. we actually have a back door front and if you notice the showers and storms aligning themselves and moving north, almost due south, that's the way the front is oriented right now. and, again, the big problems are to the west of us, but notice these haven't moved much. they are on the west side of

81. west of harrisonburg. they are sitting there. there are warnings out for these storms, but well out of our area for now. we have one little storm that popped up, just south of town. it has actually become intense. this is u.s. 1 and this is south of 1 headed down, and could have some hail. could have hail just on the east side of u.s. 1 as it moves off to the south and east. we'll put this into motion and you can see it's going move almost southwest, almost down one, crossing back over the river on the east side of 95. so, that one could have some small hail in it. there's not a warning out on that. as it moves further south, it will increase in intensity over the next 30 minutes or so. back to the computer we go. tonight, severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00. thunderstorms, some severe. low temperatures in the 60s. winds south, southeasterly at 10, unless you are in one of the big storms. look at the temperature.

88 in bethesda. 90 in college park. 90 in beltsville. and in the 80s out toward fairfax and reston, and sterling is checking in at 91. tomorrow morning, mostly cloudy, cool, showers, maybe a thunderstorm. severe weather ends tonight. 60s and 70s and by afternoon, mostly cloudy, cooler with showers, isolated thunderstorm possible, highs near 75, winds out of the southeast at 10. next seven days, weekend is okay. showers tomorrow, showers on saturday, primarily in the morning on saturday. maybe a shower on sunday. but we started going into the 80s on sunday. upper 80s for memorial day. low 80s on tuesday. a better chance for storms and in the 80s wednesday and thursday. coming up here shortly, we will have the hurricane outlook. hurricane forecast for the season. and of course, we have celebrate fairfax coming up june 11, 12, and 13th. go to our website, wusa9.com and click on to find tickets and to volunteer. they need some volunteers. >> yes, they do. of course, you are going to

be outdoors, don't forget the sunscreen. tomorrow is national don't friday. everyone is being encouraged to protect themselves from skin cancer. that includes slipping on a shirt slopping on spf15 or higher. slapping on a hat, and wrapping on sunglasses. make sure to reapply that sunscreen to your kids. >> thank you, lesli. >> now if you are cooking out, is this what you want to know to stay on a budget. you can snag a grill for $70. topper, if you like the taste of hickory smoked barbecue, then home depot, and giant foods are stocked with specials on seafood, meat, and poultry. early friday morning is the best time to shop. you wait until the weekend, it is going to be swamped.

to see more of their bargains, go to our website and click on living smart. up next, a new application for your cell phone that can take away the temptation to answer it while you are behind the wheel. and coming up new at 6:00 -- >> family of the second grader who told first lady, michelle obama, her mother does not have papers is stepping forward. coming up, what the government is doing to help the local family. [ static ]

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[ male announcer ] the contour usb meter. only from bayer. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. you're driving and you see a text, you know you shouldn't pick it up, but sometimes we do. as angie goff shows us, there's a new application to take away that temptation all together. >> no matter how many times she drives with her teenage daughter, she can't help but think the same thing. >> we are constantly telling them, do not answer your phone. >> her daughter, megan, is honest enough to say that doesn't always happen. >> nothing is going to stop us

from answering our text messages or phone calls unless we simply aren't getting our text messages or phone calls. >> we asked them to try this. it's called izop. >> this is green when you are unblocked. a call can come through. >> a software application that uses gps technology. when you are driving more than 5 miles an hour, the phone is disabled. >> this icon should turn red and it should be blocked. >> all incoming calls go directly to voice mail, text messages are saved in a file to look at later. technology that the maker says is overdue, considering distracted driving kills nearly 6,000 people a year. many of them new teen drivers. >> yeah, i hit a mailbox and almost knocked off my whole right mirror because i was texting while driving. >> i didn't know you were texting. >> i was. >> there is an emergency button that can be pressed if you need to get 911. and it goes a step further.

>> of course you can dial 911 and if you do, the account holder, a parent or fleet manager in the case of a business of an employee would receive not only an e-mail and text alert, but google map pinpointing the location of the accident. >> i'll be getting it. it seems like a no brainer, why wouldn't you put something that easy on your phone that could phone issuely save your life? >> there's another way you can make a commitment. go to our website, wusa9.com. here you can take our great hangup pledge to curb your use of the phone while behind the wheel. i'm angie goff, 9news now. coming up next new at 5:30. >> authorities say they're sorry for putting an innocent man behind bars. i'm suray chin. i'll have that story coming up. ñwçwçyyob

right now, new at 5:30. a man arrested for a crime he didn't commit. a story of mistaken identity. campus crime, we'll tell you how the local universities stacked up. plus, we'll tell you how 40 of the most popular medicines have been pulled from store shelves. but first, many of you will be packing up your cars and getting ready to head out of town for the long holiday weekend. according to triple-a. 185,000 washington area residents will drive 50 miles or more from home to celebrate memorial day. that is a 6 1/2% jump in people compared to hit the road last year. why, you ask? triple-a credits the increase in travel to the current drop in prices at the pump. the latest numbers show regular grade gas in our region averages $2.82. in ocean city, it's $2.73. get this, along the jersey

shore, gas averages $2.66 a gallon. on the outer banks, expect to pay $2.81. it's no secret that in our region, the beaches are the most popular destinations. and that means traffic at the chesapeake bay bridge on the way to the eastern shore is going to be very heavy. a trip adviser survey finds 33% of travelers will leave for memorial day tomorrow. 19% are leaving today and that includes our own, scott broome, he joins us live from ocean city where the home buyers are back. hey scott. >> it looks like they are back. we are all in search of indications of this wobbly economy coming back and it looks like more buyers are emerging. mostly because the prices on condos down here have crashed so far, but this is a town that turns on real estate and finally, there is talk that they turned the corner. >> chris, a real estate man recovering from the shock of a resort real estate market that

went on life support. >> this is a three bedroom, two bath condo on the market for $419,000. >> in a complex, the market is moving again. >> hard to predict that we found the bottom, because i'm sure there's more bank sales to come. we are not through them yet, but we are starting to stabilize. >> numbers are not dramatic, but they are going in the right direction as the season ramps up. 216 deals made to this point in 2010, compared to only 180 at this time last year. that's a 20% up swing in ocean city. >> it's usually the ones that have been sitting on the sidelines for the last eight years, watching this all pass by. they may have had thoughts of buying back in 2003 or 2004 and now they are taking advantage of a market that is back to those numbers and in many cases, lower and also taking advantage of some very low interest rates. >> but it's been a painful time getting here. >> the prices have come down quite a bit on this property. >> chris helped a bank unload

this townhouse condo for $450,000. the guy who lost it to the bank paid $715,000 just four years ago. that's a 38% crash. and it hurt. some experienced beach front condo owners say they are still gun shy. >> i think it's too much of a gamble right now and the total housing problems across the country, i don't think resort properties are going to be the first ones to go up. >> this sign on route 50 headed toward the beach show what the brokers are. buy real estate now. >> that's right, buy real estate now is the monotray down here, but you have to have some money, that's for sure, and you have to be able to qualify for the loan. 20% down, no more of these loans and that kind of stuff. the mortgage brokers are serious now and chris tells me, the people who are coming to buy are people who are not investing, they are not looking to ride the real estate. they are folks that want to

have a place at the beach and a lot of them feel like now is the time to try to get back in. the numbers indicate that's what they are doing. the number of sales are moving up. reporting live from the board walk via skype, scott broome, 9news now. >> the nation's leading experts updated this summer's hurricane forecast today. topper shutt is in the weather center with details on what they are talking about. >> we had dr. gray's forecast, now we have noah's forecast. they are predicting an active year as el nino fades away. named tropical storm, average is 10. 8 to 14 hurricanes, average is 6. and 3 to 7 major storms, that means category 3 or higher. winds 111 miles per hour. average is 3. so that's not that crazy in terms of the major storms. it's all mute until they start making land fall. let's go to the computer now and we'll talk about something we do every year for you.

9 hurricane tracker. go to our website, down load it, it's free. click on the weather page, follow the drop down menu to tropical and you'll see how to did it. you can track storms along with this and check out our history file and compare storms in the past to storms developing throughout the season. again, 9 hurricane tracker is free. check it out. there's also some more videos on the right side of the weather page on how to protect yourself against hurricanes. we are under a severe thunderstorm watch. everything is relatively quiet. a couple heavy storms retracting. we'll have that in a few minutes. the murder of lacrosse player, yeardley love at uva earlier this month forced a lot of us to reconsider safety on our college campuses. how safe is the school you or your school attend? which is the most dangerous college in our region? in tonight's safe and sound report, we send bruce leshan to find out. >> that's when you started going -- stalking me. >> at times, nadia must have felt like yeardley love,

haunted and hunted by a former boyfriend. >> it was really scary. i mean, i didn't know what to do. i didn't know how to tell anybody what was going on. >> for much of her senior year, nadia said she was followed, spied on, stalked by a fellow student at george mason university. >> he tried to scare me. he would say, me and my friends are going to go to their house and beat them up. >> george mason may be one of the safest campuses in our region. in 2008, it reported to the education department just seven serious crimes for every 10,000 students. uva had an even lower crime rate, six crimes for every 10,000 students. virginia tech was far higher, 23. at gw, the crime rate was nearly twice that high, 57. the university of maryland with 58 crimes for every 10,000 students. police in maryland blamed the neighborhood in part, but

insist the crime rate has been dropping for years. >> you should feel safe when you are on campus. we need to get those numbers lore. >> experts say sexual assaults and dating violence may be the most under reported crimes on campus. mason reported a total of 11 forcible sex offenses in 2008. but counselors say that may simply mean the school is doing a better job reaching out to student victims. >> so it means hopefully, that we are safer. that we are taking care of our students, that we care. >> and nadia has simple advice. >> always go and seek help. >> she just wishes someone could have helped yeardley love. in fairfax, bruce leshan, 9news now. >> we have more statistics for more campuses at wusa9.com. coming up next, something you have to see to believe. video of a toddler whose father says this little guy smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. >> and don't forget, we are

always on at wusa9.com. stay with us, we'll be back after the break.

we have breaking news. child television star, gary coleman is in critical condition. utah valley regional medical center spokeswoman says coleman was admitted to the facility yesterday, but she couldn't release any other details. coleman lives 50 miles south of salt lake city. the 42-year-old actor is best known for his stent on tv's different strokes, which aired from 1978 to 1986. in february, coleman suffered a seizure on the set of the insider. >> back here at home. authorities say they accused the wrong person of a horrible crime. >> 51-year-old carl frederick rice was arrested for attempting to kidnap a nine- year-old boy. authorities say he has been

exonerated. suray chin is live with more. >> it was a terrible case of mistaken identity and the sheriff's department and the commonwealth attorney's office are trying to fix the mess up. is it too little, too late for someone's reputation and for putting an innocent man behind bars? >> it's terrible. just awful what's happened. >> authorities had said 51- year-old carl frederick rice tried to kidnap a nine-year-old boy last week. they arrested rice and charged him with attempted kidnapping. one major problem. rice didn't do it. >> the wrong man was arrested. >> it's unfortunate that this happened. it's unfortunate that he was incarcerated for nine days. >> does that seem enough for someone who did go through what they did, a week and a half in jail? sorry for him may just not cut it. >> all i can say is that's what we have to offer is our apologies. >> detectives say the nine-

year-old boy was riding his scooter when a driver in a pickup truck tried to lure him into the vehicle. it happened on cedar post lane and crestwood drive last monday. rice was held without bond for nine days until he was released today. >> i tried talking with rice, but there was an apparent fire at his home last night. they identified the man who did have contact with the boy, but say nothing criminal took place. >> the contractor did in fact offer the young boy a ride home, which somehow, the boy misconstrued as a ride to some other location. >> authorities say in the end, the actions of the sheriff's department was right. >> everything we should have done by notifying the public of the arrest. >> boy's mother was asked by the sheriff's department to not go on camera, but off camera, she feels horrible about what happened, but has no regrets contacting the sheriff's department to protect her son.

suray chin, 9news now. >> authorities say rice matched the description of the suspect. everything from the vehicle to clothing, to his general appearance. caught on tape, high school graduates and their senior prank. they chalked up windows and trophy cases, tossed toilet paper around the illinois school, and then posted it all on youtube, but now pranksters are charged with defacing school property. they also have video from the school and from the wal-mart where the teen bought supplies for their prank. >> and this next video also on youtube sparking outrage around the world. the father of a two-year-old says his son has a two-pack a day cigarette habit. that toddler, ardi rizal lives in a fishing village in indonesia. her son is so addicted, he gets angry and bangs his head against the wall. >> we look at this video and it just seems like, who does that? >> how can that be? >> looking at some research,

in indonesia, about 25% of kids age 3 to 15 have tried a cigarette and in this case, this child was given one to try when he was 18 months old. >> still seems hard to believe. coming up, quality control. an update on the most popular medicines for children that have been pulled off a store shelf, and brett. >> lesli, it's thursday and as you know, that means it's time for the latest instalement of the good, the bad, and the ugly. the hockey refs who became headless hockey refs. and ended just after 50- meters. you know what's coming. you'll see the ending in gbu when 9news now returns after this.

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a month into the massive children's recall. lawmakers got the soundoff today and one local pharmacy owner tells parents what they can do until their favorite brands return. >> we had to pull so many things off and tried to fill in the hole so there's not as

many. >> the shelves don't look like they normally do during this time of year. no children zyrtec. gone, too, are other big names, tylenol, motrin, and benadryl. >> 40 of the popular medicines were yanked over quality concerns. >> these problems should have never occurred. >> today, the fda told lawmakers about widespread problems, the consumer healthcare division of market leader, johnson & johnson. an fda witness said the company knowingly used bacteria contaminated materials to make certain lots that were recalled. >> in june of 2009, fda identified several violations, including mcneal's failure to meet its own standard for quality in one of its ingredients in over the counter liquids. >> parents were told to clear out their cabinets, but left with questions. >> i haven't figured out what to do with the old tylenol and

zyrtec that i have. >> e used the generic, but been hesitant. >> parents should use alternatives for now and pharmacists says parents shouldn't worry about the safety of generics. >> it's cheaper, there must be a reason, but the reality is, most of these generics are as safe, if not safer in this case. >> so, if you still have some of these medicines, you want to mix them with kitty litter or coffee grounds before you throw them away. but, you can keep the label on the side of it to get a free refund or replacement coupon. we have a link to help you do all of this on our website. >> just had the same discussion at the pediatrician's office, buy the generic. >> don't flush them down the toilet. >> we are under a watch. we have no warnings right now. here's your forecast first. the next three days, once we get through tonight, it's going to be the end of the severe weather. we are looking at -- benny. we are looking at rain and some showers on friday.

a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm, 75. 74 on sunday. primarily morning showers and then sunday is going to be okay. we'll keep a drop in, but temperatures go into the mid 80s. much nicer. severe thunderstorm watch covers everyone until 9:00. i think the watch should go longer than that. satellite picture, radar combined, tremendous amounts of thunderstorms. the ohio valley and notice these storms working their way down the hudson valley, right for the bay. the frontal boundary is arining itself north to south and the bulls eye will be east of town tonight. let me show you live doppler. we are tracking a couple of storms here: one is in extreme northern sections and this storm on the west side of 270 produced some very heavy rain, possibly some hail. again, west side of 270, right over patomac, that's river road and falls road and some hail on the west side of that. in fact, this is probably a hail. that looks like hail as you

head in toward the village and as you head down river road toward bradley forms. rain fall rates 1 to 2 inches per hour. the storm itself is going to keep moving off to the south as we go through the next 45 minutes. back to the computer we go. tonight, severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00. some thunderstorms, some could be severe. lows in the 60s. tomorrow, showers and a slight chance of a storm, but not severe. 60s and 70s and by afternoon, some showers and an isolated thunderstorm possible. highs near 75. next seven days, weekend looks okay. it's not going to be rain-free. showers possible early on saturday, maybe a sprinkle on sunday and a garden variety thunderstorm on memorial day, but back in the upper 80s. >> all right, it's gbu time. >> i'm sorry i was late. i was out packing my three-year- old a pack of camels. >> and that person's parents should be in jail. let's see the excellent and not so excellent in the world of

sports. we start with the good. the best robbery of the same guy twice. the dback, stephen drew against the marlins sends a shot to center in the 3rd inning. cameron lays out and robs him of extra bases. then, in drew's next at bat, he sends a shot to right and ross does the same thing for him. that's an 0 for 4 day that should have been a 2 for 4 day. darn it. gagne who comes close, but instead he does a leapfrog right over his head. that's the jump where you don't want to blow the landing and he didn't and he left in one piece. best basket, those guys down in texas, you be the judge if this is real or not. the ball leaves the frame for a second. you think it's fake? >> please vote at wusa9.com. i thought it was entertaining. best self-defense, walter wilson works in a repair shop

down in atlanta where a rabid fox invaded the area and he started kicking field goals on it. walter kept on kicking and finally the fox gave up. the rockies trying to steal 2nd against the cubs. watch him go shin first. it's not chocolate pudding. shin, that's going to be a mark. it's like gravelly dark. he's going to have a hickey on his chin. you know how track and field, you have multiple events going on at the same time. doesn't mean you can -- hello. hello. >> oh. that's going to leave a mark. that's how your 100 meter dash turned into a 50-meter dash. >> i'm glad she didn't wander into the jabolin area. my grandma used to tell me, don't be in such a rush. she should have told that to

moyer. i don't think that's the fastest way to get around the track. let's go to the ugly. worst finish on a soccer goal. cay camara. this is the easier goal. he is right on the goal line. watch the replay here. he falls down and bats it in with his arm. i don't believe you are allowed to use your arm. look where he was standing. he could have spit on the ball and it would have gone in. finally, worse disorientation. going back on the adam jones nigh ball. he tips off of his glove and watch his reaction. he stops playing. he thinks he kept the ball over the wall for a home run. turns out, it was a home run. it was an inside the park home run, because morgan forgot and he would like to tunnel out of the joint, too. jim was not upset because he wasn't dogging it, he just thought it was over the wall. he was mistaken. he is a good guy, he blew it there. up next, getting to kids

early when it comes to how loud they play their music. they are getting them at school. and coming up new at 6:00. >> metro's board gives tentative approval to the biggest fare increase in the agency's history. how much more will you be paying and will some of the tweaks compromise safety? i'm bruce leshan, the story coming up.

sometimes it takes getting kids to listen to also get them to turn the sound down. that is the purpose of a campaign that is visiting five dc metro area school systems with the health alert about hearing loss. ♪ [ music ] >> jamming to the music for these kids at gaithersburg elementary is a big change to their school routine, but teachers hope they take home an important lesson. >> the empowerment to say to their parents and brothers and sisters, i saw an assembly that it's not good for you, turn it down. >> the hearing sorbs teamed up

with a national institute of health to turn personal players down with the listen to your buds campaign. >> we are preventing hearing problems from developing later on if their lives. >> more young people are using ipods and mp3 players to listen to their favorite tunes. use among 8 to 18-year-olds is up by 18% to 76% in just five years. there's ample reason for concern that misuse can lead to noise induced hearing loss. >> message to children is not to turn the volume up past half and to, if they have been listening to music for more than an hour, to give their ears a break, to avoid wear and tear on their hearing. >> hearing loss can interfere with communication and learning, negatively affecting success. >> it doesn't matter what type of headset you're wearing, you can still turn the music up too loud. >> kids caught on quickly, clapping to the beat.

and singing along to the words while taking in the message. >> if you listen to something loud, you should turn it down. >> right. >> so how can you and your kids listen safely? a study say set this at a comfortable volume in a quiet place. and keep it at that volume even in noisier environments. if you can't hear your tunes, use noise reducing earphones. thanks for joining us for 9news now at 5:00. 9news now at 6:00 starts right now. from the first local station with news in high definition, this is 9news now. >> we are on storm alert with potential flooding and thunderstorms in parts of our area. topper is standing by and top, what's popping up on the doppler? >> we have a couple storms. the ones that developed are hefty. everybody is under severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00 tonight and it's the same